Cosmic Questions

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The trick here is to justify the property-giving process in a way that explains why other processes-such as simply pointing at an unclaimed asteroid and saying 'That's mine' or perhaps roping off a section of the moon in order to claim it-don't lead to property rights.

Of course, we could simply extend our existing rules of property to govern space, assuming all nations involved endorse a free-market system. But if a new age of space exploration marks our opportunity to 'start over,' then it seems that we should scrutinize unfettered capitalism, along with competing economic models, through a new lens. A purely free-market economy, for instance-while it is efficient at allocating scarce resources and inspiring innovation-is not so much concerned with need or merit, so a hybrid model may be desirable.

Even among enlightened people, there will inevitably be property-rights disputes in space, so we will need a regulatory or administrative body that has jurisdiction over those lands, in addition to an enforcement agency. It won't be enough that we govern from Earth-we will need a local organization to maintain law and order in real time as well as to more efficiently administer public policy, urban planning, and other matters. Again, these concerns point to our new era in space exploration as a true opportunity to start over from scratch, bringing with it new responsibility to create a blueprint for society in space.

We already have centuries of philosophical, political, and economic theories in our stockpile. Now is the time to dust them off, reevaluate them, and finally turn theory into action. One reasonable starting point would be to consider space development through political thinker John Rawls' 'original position,' in which we operate under a 'veil of ignorance' or pretend that we don't know any facts about ourselves, including who we are, what economic class we belong to, what nationality we are, and so on. With our biases stripped away, what rules would we set up, knowing that we would have to live by those rules once we find out who we are? You are just as likely to be a poor farmer in the heartland of America, or a Buddhist in Japan, or a wealthy businessman in Germany, or an AIDS patient in South Africa, or an amputee in Iraq. Applying the veil of ignorance to rules in space helps ensure that the processes we set up are fair and consider the interests of all people, including protecting the worst-off from an even worse and uncaring fate.

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